Masculism is a movement and an ideology that considers the sexes complementary and interdependent by necessity; masculists generally believe that the expression of differentiated sex roles is natural and should be exempt from government interference.

Masculism is the ideological flip side of feminism, as was capitalism that of communism in the economic realm. The first secular ideological response to feminism came from a leading Socialist theoretician in Socialism's heyday at the turn of the 19th century, who also had been an associate of Marx. E. Belfort Bax, who wrote "The Fraud of Feminism", was among the first masculists, if we take its defining feature to be opposition to the articulated doctrine of feminism.

The word masculism (less often masculinism), however, coined in linguistic opposition to feminism, didn't gain currency until the end of the 20th century.

Sex differences

While some feminists consider the sexes as having the same capacities in virtually every respect, they denounce differentiated sex roles as an oppressive artificial construct. Many masculists believe, to the contrary, that profound sex differences are inherent in human nature, and that feminists who have attempted to negate these differences by legislation and social engineering are dragging civilization through a fallacious experiment. Many masculists blame this experiment for high divorce rates, alienation of the sexes, disintegrating communities, fatherless children, high school dropout, drug addiction, consumerism, teenage pregnancy, suicide, violent crime, and the excessive prison population.

The greatest area of disagreement among masculists is to what extent there should be religious prescriptions for sex roles. This is largely a matter of degree; some masculists claim a general leadership role for men and greater contributions to society, while others argue for relative equality between the sexes. The term "masculism" may be used interchangeably with "men's rights movement", though conservatives in the men's rights movement often reserve the term "masculism" for the liberal branch of the movement, such as author Warren Farrell. The essence of the division between liberal and conservative anti-feminists is the importance given to religion, with the liberals more prone to take the secular stance, as pioneered by Farrell, and the conservatives the religious approach as represented by Goldberg.

Discrimination

Some masculists further state that sexual equality laws (beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1964) have resulted in making feminist ideology mainstream; that such laws serve primarily women and have created significant unconstitutional discrimination against men. While, in their view, most feminism rails against an all-powerful patriarchy, many masculists consider patriarchy "inevitable". Many masculists accuse feminism of characterizing women as powerless victims of patriarchal oppression, and of using this as a device used to justify the vilification of men and the curtailing of men's rights. Some masculists believe that feminism has achieved a covert matriarchy by means of such devices.

1. Child custody strongly favoring mothers
2. Men incarcerated for inability to pay unrealistic support payments
3. Children aborted or given up for adoption without fathers' consent
4. Men risking their lives in military service
5. Men taking high-risk employment but receiving no special honor for doing so
6. Men charged in domestic violence cases even when they are the victims
7. Men charged in rape and sexual harassment cases with no evidence beyond the plaintiff's claim, where the mere accusation frequently destroys a man's life
8. Research and free speech repressed unless pro-feminist
9. Men fired from their jobs for expressing anti-feminist views in the workplace
10. Hate crimes against men
11. Relative lack of funding for men's health
12. Entitlement programs for women only
13. Special government agencies for women's affairs, and no corresponding agencies for men's affairs
14. Feminist ideology being taught in public universities, where it is misleadingly labeled "Women's Studies".

Patriarchy

Masculism envisions a greater role for men than at present in both the family and society. Most masculists note that father custody is assigned less often than mother custody, and argue that this should be made equal or even reversed. The latter cite lower incidence for all child development risk factors in single-father households compared to single-mother households. They also believe that women initiate most family breakups, that this is exacerbated by women's expectation of full custody, and that the expectation of father custody would therefore reduce the divorce rate. One of their goals is to overturn the "covert matriarchy" and elect masculist politicians, whom they would consider more altruistically motivated. Most masculists support equal opportunity for women, though some envision structural changes in taxation or other areas to compensate for the natural differences and expectations between sexes.

There exists an alternate view of masculism as a complementary movement to feminism. In this viewpoint, both feminism and masculism are attempts to correct disadvantages induced by gender roles - feminism addresses areas where women are (seen to be) disadvantaged (e.g., pay and promotion) while masculism addresses areas where men are (seen to be) disadvantaged (e.g., criminal prosecution and sentencing). Masculists with this view may object to specific aspects of feminism, or to the expressed views of specific self-defined feminist groups, but do not reject feminism as a concept, or believe that the feminist movement as a whole is inimical to masculism. For example, Warren Farrell states in The Myth of Male Power that both sexes are hampered by gender roles of the past. On his Web page, he further expands on this compatibility: "I use two podiums: Dr. Farrell, Masculist; and Dr. Farrell, Feminist." Another example is found in Fred Hayward's speech to the National Congress for Men in 1981: "We must not reverse the women's movement; we must accelerate it… [Men's liberation] is not a backlash, for there is nothing about traditional sex roles that I want to go back to…". However, it should be noted that many masculists vehemently decry this idea, and do not believe that masculism and feminism can possibly co-exist culturally, though all masculists agree on the political incompatibility of masculism and feminism.

Criticism

Recent opposition to masculism includes a $75,000 tax-paid report requested by Status of Women Canada, a department of the Canadian federal government titled "School Success by Gender: A Catalyst for the Masculinist Discourse", which examines a wide variety of masculist Web sites and finds that "these groups are largely composed of white, heterosexual, middle-class men who have not been successful in coping with the challenge to masculinity posed by feminism".

Organisation

The men's movement (organised masculism) is notoriously not organised, to the extent that we have no influence on politicians whatever, and have a difficult time communicating our ideas to any men but those that find us, usually because they have suffered at the hands of feminism.